# LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, t 



tin. X^$mm | ./JL 

I DNITED STATUS OF AMERICA.! 



A 



CATHOLIC 



GEORGE DAVISON, 

Albany, 1ST. Y. 



Zxkl/t 



ALBANY", N. Y 
1876. 



-£-*} 






LC Control Number 




tmp96 027355 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year Eighteen Hundred 

and Seventy-Six, 

By GEORGE DAVISON, 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



Weed, Pak sons & Co., 

Albany, N, Y., 

Pkdttees. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The writer has been induced to write the fol- 
lowing pages, hoping that some good may result 
from the reading of them. Indeed, it is time 
that every man, woman and child became inter- 
ested in the cause of God and that of their country. 

We can all do something either with the tongue 
or pen; God demands it and the government 
expects it. 

Let us look around us, and we shall see that 
there are those in our midst who are continually 
trying to destroy our faith in God, as well as in 
all the free institutions of our country. 

We hear a great deal said in our day about 
which is the true church ; now, there is only one 
church, and that is the church of Jesus Christ. 
This church was established by him. Now, 
Christ has assured this church that the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against it. 



± INTRODUCTION. 

Now, we do not believe that this is the church 
of Rome. We believe it is the true, non-sectarian 
Catholic church. 

Some say that the Reformers left the Catholic 
church. This we deny. They left the church 
of Rome on account of the many changes that it 
was undergoing in that day, and all that was true 
Catholic they brought with them. Now, where 
is this true, non-sectarian, Catholic spirit found 
to-day ? We hold that it is found among all the 
different branches of this true church, and they 
are all trusting and believing in the infallible 
promises of Jesus Christ. They can say with 
the poet : 

"How can we sink with such a prop, 
A prop that holds the world and all things up." 

Now, remember that, when we say Catholic, we 
do not wish to be misunderstood. What we mean 
by " Catholic " is universal love for all men tho' 
they may differ from us in their religious views. 

When we are asked what church we belong to, 
let us say to the Catholic church. If we are asked 
what branch of the church we belong to, let us 
say Methodist, Baptist, or whatever other branch 
it may be. 



INTRODUCTION. 



When we pray, let us pray for the church, not 
for the churches. This praying for the different 
churches is what gives the enemy strength, and 
their religious teachers make a capital out of it. 

Now, reader, when we ask you to become a 
Catholic, you say you cannot. We ask you, why ? 
Your answer is : " My grandmother was not ! my 
mother was not ! my father was not ! and my 
priest opposes it." Well, you are not bound to 
believe what your grandmother, mother, father 
or priest believe. Some of them believed in go- 
ing from one town to another with a donkey ; 
they believed in carrying their mail on horseback. 
They changed their views in those things. They 
now believe in railroad cars, in telegraphing and 
in steamboats. There was a time when neither 
the priest nor minister believed in temperance or- 
ganizations. Now they believe in them, and 
urge all to join them. If reading the scriptures 
and common sense teach a man that he can im- 
prove his condition in spiritual matters, why not 
do it? 

Let us think, read and act for ourselves ; each 
individual will be held responsible for his own 
actions. 



A CATHOLIC. 



Theee are persons who think that they 
are Catholics, simply because, at their 
mother's knee, they were taught the Apos- 
tles' creed. They can say, " I believe in 
the holy Catholic church ; " this, of course, 
leads them to suppose that they are 
Catholics. 

They are taught all the outward forms 
and ceremonies of their church, such as 
saying prayers, kneeling and rising, bowing 
to the minister and looking upon him as 
though he were better than the rest of 
mankind. They are also taught not to 
neglect any of the sacraments, such as 
baptism, confirmation and the Lord's 
supper. 



8 A CATHOLIC. 

Now we hold that a man may go 
through all these forms, and he may be 
baptized a thousand times ; he may also 
have the hands of his bishop laid upon his 
head, and he may partake of the Lord's 
supper, and yet he may not be a Catholic 
in all that the word implies. There is 
such a thing as being like the Pharisee 
who stood and prayed with himself, thus : 
" God I thank thee that I am not as other 
men." There are those who are just like 
the Pharisee ; they make long prayers, and 
when we behold them, on the Sabbath, 
going to their places of worship, one would 
suppose, to look at them, that they were 
the most sanctified beings outside of 
Heaven. But be assured, friends, that it 
takes more than this to make a man a 
Catholic. Ministers, priests and bishops 



A CATHOLIC. 9 

can make such Catholics as those. Now 
there is no man who, in his own strength, 
can become a true Catholic in all that the 
word " Catholic " implies. But there is a 
way in which he can become a true Cath- 
olic, and that is by complying with all the 
requirements of the gospel. Eepentance 
and faith are necessary to salvation ; with- 
out these there is no such thing as becoming 
a child of God. 

Let us remember that if we are ever 
awakened to a sense of sin, it will be 
through the workings of the Holy Spirit. 
Indeed, friends, no man can come to the 
Saviour except the Father draw him. We 
might as well expect a dead man to come 
from the grave of his own power, as to 
expect a man, who is dead in sin, to repent, 
unless God the Father, God the Son, and 



10 A CATHOLIC. 

God the Holy Ghost, these three in one, 
work in him. 

Now when this man's mind becomes 
illuminated by the influence of the Holy 
Spirit, he sees himself guilty before God 
and immediately acknowledges his trans- 
gressions, at the same time he believes that 
God will be as good as his word, and blot 
out his iniquities from the " Book of His 
Remembrance." Through faith in the 
blood of Christ Jesus he feels the spirit of 
God bearing witness with his spirit, that 
he is a child of God. When this work is 
completed in a man we pronounce him a 
Catholic, but not before. 

Now, what does God and all Heaven 
expect of this man? First, they expect 
activity ; indeed, it is impossible for any 
man to enjoy the influences of the Holy 



A CATHOLIC. 11 

Spirit and not be instrumental in bringing 
forth some fruit. When God converts a 
man it is not merely for the purpose of 
taking him to heaven, but for the purpose 
of doing something to build up his cause. 
The world expects a Catholic to work. 
We have a police force ; now what do we 
expect of it ? We expect its members to 
patrol our streets at night, when we are 
asleep, to protect our lives and property. 
Just what we expect of the police force is 
what God and the world expects of all 
sincere Catholics. 

We hold that if the Spirit of Christ 
be in a man, it will, undoubtedly, show 
itself. 

Christ says, " The water that I shall give 
him shall be in him a well of waters spring- 
ing up into everlasting life." In this pass- 



12 A CATHOLIC. 

age Christ speaks of the Spirit as though 
it were a spring of water, not as though it 
were a dead stagnant pool. He calls it 
living water. We have walked by the 
side of some of our western rivers, and we 
have found springs that were continually 
bubbling up from the earth; now you 
might take rock, brick and cement, and 
cover them with a skillful hand, still the 
water would find its way out. 

There is another thought in connection 
with these springs — every month in the 
year the water flows from them ; now, if 
this living water that Jesus speaks of be in 
a man, it will certainly find its way out ; 
you may try to heap the world on him, 
you may persecute him, but if Christ be 
in him he will never be ashamed to 
acknowledge him. 



A CATHOLIC. 13 

We also learn from tliis figure of the 
spring the readiness of God to save souls 
in summer as well as in winter. 

It would be well for some of those 
Catholic brethren who say, " Let us wait 
until winter and then we will hold a pro- 
tracted meeting," to remember that God's 
time is always now ; why wait for an evan- 
gelist ; surely there is no country so blessed 
with a better class of ministers than our 
own. The great trouble with us all is this, 
we have no faith in ourselves. It would 
be well for us if we felt the responsibility 
that rests upon us as Catholics, as much as 
a good old Scotch apostle did. This good 
old man would rise in the dead hour of the 
night, and throwing an old plaid shawl 
over his shoulders, would kneel down and 
pray for his people. One night his wife 



14 A CATHOLIC. 

awoke, and on hearing him, she asked him 
what he was doing ; he replied, " Oh, wife, 
I feel that I have three thousand souls to 
answer for on the judgment day, and I am 
praying and weeping now that they may 
not weep and mourn on the day of judg- 
ment." Then let us who profess to be good 
Catholics, try and do something for our 
own souls, and also for the souls of others. 
Look at Martin Luther ; here we find an 
active Catholic. It is said that when he 
was engaged in proclaiming the gospel in 
Germany the Pope looked out of his 
window and saw a great fire in Germany ; 
he sent his servants over to put it out. 
They went, but the fire had got started, 
and thank God it was impossible to put it 
out. This fire burned all over Germany 
and other parts of Europe ; that same fire 



A CATHOLIC. 15 

has crossed the Atlantic ocean, and is, to- 
day, burning in all parts of the United 
States. May it keep burning until every 
thing that sets itself up against God is con- 
sumed. 

Luther, the great German apostle, was 
not only meek and gentle, but he was bold 
in the cause of his master. Once, when 
summoned to appear at Worms, his friends, 
fearing that something would befall him 
on the way, entreated him not to go, but 
Luther replied that if there were as many 
devils as there were tiles on the houses he 
would go, and thank God he did go. If 
we read the history of the church from the 
early ages, we will find that the path of 
duty is the path of safety, though there 
may be wolves in the way. 

What was it that moved Calvin, Knox, 



16 A CATHOLIC. 

Whitefield, Wesley, Jay and others for- 
ward in the cause of Christ ? It was the 
effects of this living water that Christ had 
given them to drink. 

Now, these men might have remained in 
a dead, cold state ; they might have had 
all the honors of the world heaped upon 
them, as well as mansions to live in; 
indeed, they might have served at the 
altars and worn their white and scarlet 
gowns — but no ! like Moses they refused 
to be called great and noble by the world ; 
they chose for their companions the poor 
of this world, if they could only, in this 
way, be instrumental in bringing souls to 
Christ. 

A Catholic has charity for those who 
differ from him in opinion ; he allows 
every man the right of his own private 



A CATHOLIC. 17 

judgment ; lie believes that a man lias a 
right to read, think and act for himself ; 
he is in every respect a free man, and, 
being free himself, he wishes all others to 
enjoy the same privileges that he does. 
He takes the Scriptures of the Old and 
New Testament as his rule of faith and 
practice. 

There is no man who can take the Word 
of God for his guide and be a bigot. God 
is the great author of the Scriptures ; there- 
fore we are bound to believe that God's 
will is that all Christians should live in 
union, one with the other, as one of our 
great statesmen once said, "United we 
stand, divided we fall." So it is with 
Catholics : if they will all pant for one 
God, as the " hart panteth after the water 
brooks," there will be no envy or malice 



18 A CATHOLIC. 

against any man on account of his partic- 
ular creed. 

There is no mistake but that there is 
great power in Christians possessing the 
one Great Spirit, though they may differ 
in some minor points which are not essen- 
tial to salvation. 

A gentleman, when dying, desired to 
teach his children a lesson. He called the 
youngest son to his bedside, and told him 
to go and gather a number of small sticks 
and bring them to him. The son brought 
them. The father then said : " Take a 
cord and bind them together, then try and 
break them." The son could not break 
them. "My son," said the father, "take 
a knife and cut the cord ; now," said he, 
" break the sticks." The child now broke 
the sticks easily. Now, his children who 



A CATHOLIC. 19 

witnessed the proceedings were taught 
this lesson, that, as long as they remained 
bound together by the cords of love, there 
was no enemy that could destroy them. 
But when they allowed the cord of love to 
be cut, then peace and harmony were easily 
broken. 

Let us look for a few moments, and see 
what God has wrought through good 
Catholics and the Bible. Look at the 
many magnificent colleges, seminaries? 
churches, bethels, public schools, houses 
of shelter for the outcasts, and asylums 
for orphans. Now, we, as a Christian 
nation, must acknowledge that God has 
influenced the hearts and minds of noble 
Catholics to establish these institutions. 
Every nation that has the Bible for its 
foundation can be called a powerful and 



20 A CATHOLIC. 

intelligent nation. Look at those nations 
where the Bible has not yet appeared, and 
we find its people in spiritual darkness, 
bowing down to gods of wood and stone, 
or living in superstition and ignorance. 

Germany, Great Britain and the United 
States are called powerful nations. What 
has made these nations so powerful, both 
by land and sea ? The Bible. Why is it 
that a part of some countries are enlight- 
ened, intelligent and christianized, while 
another part remains in total darkness and 
ignorance ? 

The reason is this, the one takes the 
Bible and the other takes the doctrines and 
creeds gotten up by bishops and priests. 

The Bible not only illuminates nations 
but families also; take two families, one 
has the Bible and endeavors to read and 



A CATHOLIC. 21 

study it ; the other has, perhaps, a novel 
and cards in place of the Bible ; now let 
any honest man read the characters of 
those families and he will certainly pro- 
nounce the character of the one who has 
the Bible to be far superior to that one 
who has not the Bible. We hold that if 
men would take the Bible as the man of 
their counsel there would be no policemen, 
no jails, no penitentiaries and no gallows. 
It is the lack of a true knowledge of the 
Scriptures that brings about all those 
crimes that are committed against both 
civil and moral laws. Of course breaking 
those laws causes our jails, penitentiaries 
and other places of punishment to be filled 
with criminals. 

Catholics may slumber for a while, but 
when a party of men, whether they be 



22 A CATHOLIC. 

politicians or religious bigots, rise up to 
destroy our free institutions they are 
aroused to a man, and there is no amount 
of money or property but what they are 
willing to sacrifice with in order to protect 
those institutions. In fact there are thou- 
sands who would be willing to sacrifice 
their lives for that which they believe to 
be of God. They are not only true to God 
and their church, but they are also true to 
the government that gives them protection, 
no matter what their nationalities are, they 
believe in upholding the government which 
protects them and their children. Why 
should they not protect such a govern- 
ment ? A government which allows them 
the privilege of worshipping God accord- 
ing to the dictates of their own conscience, 
is one that should lie near the hearts of all 
good Catholics. 



A CATHOLIC. 23 

When good Catholics come to this coun- 
try they do not come to dictate, nor find 
fault with the laws and constitutions. 
Their motive for coming here is to better 
their circumstances in life and do all in 
their power to establish liberty of con- 
science, both by their vote at the ballot- 
box, and their influence wherever God in 
his providence may cast their lot. 

If there is any thing that is provoking 
to an American citizen, it is to have an 
Englishman, Irishman, Scotchman or any 
other countryman, leave his own country on 
account of oppression, and just as soon as 
he gets here, begin to find fault with the 
constitution and the laws of this country. 
Now I do not say that I am right, but if I 
had my way I would send every one of these 
fault-finders back to their own country; 



24 A CATHOLIC. 

such men may be very good neighbors, and 
be honest with their fellow men, but they 
are certainly not good citizens, nor honest 
with the government which gives them 
and their children protection. 

Now there are those who say " I would 
like to become a Catholic, but I would 
have to suffer persecution ; my church, my 
priest, my neighbors, my parents, brothers, 
sisters, wife and children would all become 
my enemies. 77 What of all that ? Are 
you greater than the great head of the 
Catholic church in heaven and on earth ? 

He that would wear the crown must 
bear the cross. The prophets were good 
Catholics ; the apostles were good Cath- 
olics ; the martyrs were good Catholics. 
Some of those men were burned ; some 
were sawn asunder ; others were put into 



A CATHOLIC. 25 

prison, and lastly, the great head of the 
Catholic faith was nailed to the cross. All 
this was done to establish and build up a 
temple of living stones. 

It is not right for us to expect to be 
made better than our Lord and Master. 
He has assured us that if we take up our 
cross and follow him we shall suffer perse- 
cution. 

Now, the first thing a man ought to do 
when he sets out to live the life of a Cath- 
olic, is to count the cost, and if he finds 
out that if, by suffering a little while in 
this life, he can gain eternal life, then he 
better turn his back on the world. It will 
pay him in the end. But he will need a 
great deal of grace to strengthen him in 
this act, as the Rev. William Jay said, " a 
dead fish may go with the stream, but it 



26 A CATHOLIC. 

takes a living one to go against it." We 
may learn from this that a worldly-minded 
Catholic has no trouble in this world, but 
a living Catholic has to struggle and fight 
all the way through this life. 

The world sets good Catholics up as 
targets, to shoot at, but it has been said 
that " there never was a ball formed in 
hell that could injure a Catholic." 

Every mocker and scoffer and half- 
hearted professor has a stone to throw at 
the failings of a Catholic. They remind 
us very much of a number of boys going 
to school; on their way there they pass by 
an orchard ; every tree in this orchard 
bears crab-apples, except one, that bears 
pound sweets. Now, the boys have not a 
stone to throw at the crab-apples, but every 
stone is thrown at the pound sweets # 



A CATHOLIC. 27 

Good Catholics are like the tree that bears 
pound sweets — every slur that the world 
has to throw at religion is thrown at them. 

If a man is purchasing a number of 
sheep, and there is a black one among them, 
that is the one that he holds up as a sample 
of the rest. This man never says a word 
about all the good ones. So it is with 
men who make light of holy things ; they 
mock and scoff at religion, and if there is 
one in the church that is weak, and does 
not live just as they think he should live, 
they are like the man purchasing the sheep, 
they hold him up and say, " look at this 
fellow ! " They do this to excuse them- 
selves. 

There is a class of men in all communi 
ties that seem to live on the failings of 
Christians. 



28 A CATHOLIC. 

Now, I will not say but what Christians 
have their faults, but still it is no mark of 
a gentleman to be forever holding up their 
faults. Would it not be w^ell for you who 
are criticizing the Christians just to stop 
and look into the depths of your own 
heart and see what is there ? I think you 
will see so much sin there that perhaps 
you will cry out and say : " Oh ! wretched 
man that I am, who shall deliver me from 
this body of sin." This crying out against 
weak Christians has a tendency, sometimes, 
to cause them to stumble. 

Now, Christians, let us imitate John 
Bunyan. It is said of him that w x hen he 
was awakened by the Holy Spirit and saw 
himself to be a sinner, and for fear that 
he should hear any thing that would turn 
his attention from Christ, he put his fin- 



A CATHOLIC. 29 

gers in his ears, and ran and cried : "Life ! 
life ! eternal life ? " So may it be with, us, 
who profess to love Christ. 

Let us turn a deaf ear to the world, let 
us pray God that he would give us grace 
to overcome the world, the flesh and the 
devil. Let us endeavor to stand up boldly 
for Christ and his cause. 

I remember once of reading of one of 
the noble daughters of Ireland; she was 
what we call in our day a Romanist, and 
though believing and practicing the Rom- 
ish religion, still we believe that she was a 
sincere Catholic. A young man, worth 
both money and lands, was paying his 
respects to her, and thought he might 
seduce her in some way. He spent many 
a long hour in her company, offered her 
his gold and many other things of value, 



30 A CATHOLIC. 

if she would only yield herself to his 
wishes ; finally she made up her mind that 
she would end the matter, so she made 
him a promise that she would yield, pro- 
viding he would hold his finger for two 
minutes by her watch in the blaze of a 
candle which was standing on the table. 
He refused, saying the pain would be too 
great. Then said she " You wish me to 
commit a sin, which if I did commit, my 
poor soul would have to burn in hell for 
ever, and you are not willing to suffer the 
pain of burning one finger." The young 
man saw that his purpose was defeated. 
He left the house, and she was never 
troubled by him again. 

This is what we call taking a decided 
stand. Now let old and young Christians 
and strong and weak Christians try and 



A CATHOLIC. 31 

imitate one of Ireland's choicest daugh- 
ters. 

Some have a different excuse from any 
of those spoken of for not becoming Cath- 
olics. They will say " There are so many 
different kinds of Catholics ; there are the 
Methodist, Baptist, Dutch Reformed, Lu- 
theran, Episcopalian and Presbyterian. 

We claim that the true Catholic church 
is one, and will ever remain one. It knows 
only one God. In the person of God the 
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy 
Ghost, these three are one, though they 
may differ in office. 

We have the promise of Christ Himself, 
and He is the only infallible being in 
heaven and on earth. His promise is this : 
" Upon this rock will I build my church, 
(that is the Catholic church), and the gates 



32 A CATHOLIC. 

of hell shall not prevail against it." After 
making this promise in reference to the 
church, he made another promise to the 
apostles, when he sent them out to preach ; 
he said, " Go ye into all the world and 
preach the gospel," and he says, "Lo, I am 
with you always, even unto the end of the 
world." 

It is astonishing how wicked men tried 
in the Netherlands of Holland, through the 
influence of Philip, Charles, Margaret and 
others, of whom we cannot speak at this 
time to annihilate the church. Men tried 
it again in Germany, and likewise in Eng- 
land, and now in the United States, but 
thank God the church is like a tree planted 
by the rivers of waters whose branches are 
growing higher and wider. Its roots also 
are spreading in all directions. ~Now we 



A CATHOLIC. 33 

have the infallible promise of him whose 
lips never told a lie, that all the powers 
of earth and hell combined shall never be 
able to overthrow this magnificent tree. 
Though the same spirit that moved Philip, 
Charles, Margaret, Mary and others, to try 
and uproot that tree, which is the Catholic 
church, in the Netherlands, Germany and 
England, is still in our midst to-day, and 
would, if it could, uproot the church as 
well as all other free institutions. 

Germany, England and the Netherlands 
had their men in their day of trial and 
persecution, and let us thank God that we 
American Catholics and citizens have men, 
at the head of our government, who are 
as ready to fight the battles of the Lord, as 
those of Germany, England and the Neth- 
erlands. All that remains for us to do is 
3 



34 A CATHOLIC. 

to keep them there. There is just one 
honorable way in which this can be done, 
and that is through the ballot box. 

Let men occupying high positions in our 
land, and the merchant, mechanic, farmer, 
and laborer, feel that the power is in their 
hands. But we commence^ by saying that 
the church is one ; some say, " there are so 
many different kinds of churches ; " we say, 
again, that there are not. They form one 
family ; that is, all the different evangelical 
denominations form this family. Of course, 
there are different names, such as Baptist, 
Lutheran, Dutch Reformed, and many 
others. Now, though they may differ in 
outward forms and in the management 
of their buildings, still, when it comes to 
the essential point, viz. : Salvation through 
and by Jesus Christ, they are all one. 



A CATHOLIC. 35 

Let us endeavor to show to the enemies 
of true Catholicism that we are one in 
every thing that is for the promotion of 
God's glory ; if there is any one thing that 
will ever weaken them, it is our being united 
in both religion and politics. We must 
remember that they are always sure to 
hold up our failings. 

Why is it that in this day there is so 
much fault found with the present admin- 
istration at Washington ? It is because 
some wish to divide that party which up- 
holds all of our free institutions. They 
know that if they can accomplish this there 
will be some hope that they will come into 
power. If they obtain the power, then 
aw^ay with every thing that the fathers laid 
down their lives for. Do not let us forget 
that " united we stand, divided we fall." 



36 A CATHOLIC. 

The name amounts to nothing with re- 
gard to entering heaven. 

We believe that God, in his wise provi- 
dence, has planned and arranged mat- 
ters so that there should be just as many 
names in his family as there now are. 

Men do not all think alike, nor see alike, 
nor look alike — neither do they all act 
alike. Now, there are some persons who 
could not be any thing but a Methodist or 
Baptist, others think they must be a Pres- 
by terean or an Episcopalian ; so we see that 
God in His great kindness has so arranged 
those matters that it leaves man without 
an excuse ; he cannot go before the bar of 
God and say he could not find a name to 
suit him. Now we thank God for the 
names, and we would not blot them out if 
we could. 



A CATHOLIC. 37 

It would be just as consistent to find 
fault with a family for having different 
names as to find fault with the church of 
Christ for having different names. It is 
called in the scripture a family. Now in 
this family there are many members. We 
might call the different denominations 
members of the family. Again the church 
is likened to a human body ; now in the 
body there are many members ; there are 
the mouth, eyes and ears, and many others. 
So it is with the church, the different de- 
nominations may represent the members 
of the whole church. 

Some years ago the United States had a 
very large army called out to defend their 
country against rebels and traitors ; now 
though this army was all one, yet it was 
divided up into parts, part of it was sent 



38 A CATHOLIC. 

to one place and part to another ; part 
went by the name of infantry, part by the 
name of artillery, and part by the name of 
cavalry. Now what difference did the 
name make ? They were all United States 
soldiers, and all fighting against the same 
foe. 

There are some beautiful lessons of in- 
struction to be learned from the ark. This 
ark was built for the salvation of all who 
entered it. Now there were pairs of all 
living creatures in the ark. Now, it does 
not look reasonable to suppose that Noah 
permitted all those animals to enter into 
the ark without having places arranged for 
each kind. We have no doubt but that 
there was a place for the rabbit, another for 
the tiger, and a place for each kind of 
animals represented. Now this ark repre- 



A CATHOLIC. 39 

sents the church. If Noah made arrange- 
merits for the different kinds of animals 
that entered into the ark, it is reasonable 
to suppose that it is so in the true church 
of Christ which is the ark ; and we believe 
that God has different departments in this 
great ark, and that each denomination 
occupies a portion of this ark. 

We believe that God, in his kindness, 
has permitted his church to divide itself 
up into different sections ; each section has 
a different name ; but we positively believe 
that in Heaven names will not be known. 
It is said that " They shall come from the 
east and from the west, and shall sit down 
with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

Who shall come ? The different denom- 
inations? Now we do not believe that 
Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians or Epis- 



40 A CATHOLIC. 

copalians will be mentioned in Heaven. 
There is nothing that will admit us into 
Heaven, except a saving faith in Jesus 
Christ. John Wesley was one of the most 
charitable Catholics of his day. We re- 
member hearing something like this : Wes- 
ley was once preaching from the deck of a 
vessel in Philadelphia, and while this good 
man was proclaiming the willingness of 
Christ to save a perishing world, a man 
belonging to the Romish church stepped 
up and said to him : " Sir, do you think 
there are any Methodists in Heaven ? " 
Wesley said : " Wait a moment." The 
man of God raised his eyes to Heaven, and 
said: "Abraham, are there any Method- 
ists in Heaven?" The answer was no. 
Again he asked : " Are there any Baptists, 
Lutherans, Episcopalians or Dutch Re- 



A CATHOLIC. 41 

formed ? " Again the answer was no. 
"Then," said Wesley, "who are there in 
Heaven ? " The answer was " Christians," 
which means, of course, Catholics. 

Now, the lesson to be learned from this 
is, that we may have a correct theory ; we 
may know a creed, and we may have our 
names registered in what may be called a 
church book, but unless we know Christ 
and the power of his resurrection it will 
profit us nothing. 

A clergyman of Albany once rela 
ted an incident bearing upon this point. 
Once, while he was visiting in the city of 
Brooklyn, there was an anniversary of the 
different Sabbath schools. When they 
were in the procession you could tell the 
denomination to which each school be- 
longed, by the banner which it carried. 



42 A CATHOLIC. 

They passed through the streets until they 
came to a large hall. Here they stopped, 
and, as they passed into the hall, they left 
their banners outside. After they were 
seated, the doctor was called upon to ad- 
dress them. When he rose up he could 
not tell one school from another; the rea- 
son was, because they had left their names 
outside. So it is with the different denom- 
inations. They may carry their names 
through this world, but, as they enter the 
next, they will have to leave them behind. 
It is all right and good for us to have our 
names, but do not let us grow vain and 
think that our name is better than that of 
our neighbor's. 

None of us are without our faults. We 
may see a wrong in our neighbor, which 
we do not see in ourselves. Our neighbor 



A CATHOLIC. 43 

may see a wrong in us which he does not 
see in himself ; so it is best to be char- 
itable toward one another. We are all 
brethren endeavoring to reach the same 
Heaven. 

Christ says, "I am the vine, and ye are 
the branches." This passage may be ap- 
plied to the different denominations : 
Christ is the great trunk, and the differ- 
ent denominations are the branches. The 
Episcopalians are abranch ; the Lutheran, 
Dutch Reformed and all other denomina- 
tions are branches. Now Christ does not 
say " that ye are the branch.' 1 '' There 
would not be much to admire in a great, 
large trunk and a great, large branch. 
But when we see a tree that is uniform, 
having many beautiful branches, we see 
something that can be admired. 



44 A CATHOLIC. 

Now, when we look at Christ and his 
church in this light, we see that which can 
be admired. 

Let us learn another lesson from this. 
All branches are not alike ; some are long 
and some are short ; some bear much fruit 
and some bear little. So it is with the 
different branches of the church. But let 
us thank God and take courage that they 
are bearing as much fruit as they are. 

Let every individual Catholic pray earn- 
estly to God that the Holy Spirit may be 
poured out upon the church, that it may 
be as a watered garden. Its success de- 
pends upon the searching of the Scriptures 
as well as the illuminating influences of 
the Holy Spirit. It was a positive com- 
mand of Christ to the Jews, "To search 
the Scriptures." Now, if the Scriptures 



A CATHOLIC. 45 

were good for the Jews, they are most 
assuredly good for us. Paul recommended 
Timothy, because that "From a child he 
had known the Holy Scriptures/' which 
were able to make him wise unto salva- 
tion. Now we hold that all the successors 
of the Apostles will do their utmost to 
induce the rich, the poor, the young and 
the old to daily search the Scriptures. 

Why not have everybody know the mis- 
sion of Christ into the world ? Why not 
learn of his character and life ? Why not 
know his death and resurrection ? This is 
certainly good. Why not know the lives 
of his Apostles ? To be sure they were 
poor men ; they did not live in luxury ; 
they were workingmen ; they toiled with 
their own hands to obtain the necessary 
things of life, that they might not be 



46 A CATHOLIC. 

charged with trying to make an easy liv- 
ing out of the people. They also went, 
with tears in their eyes, from house to 
house, to build up their Master's kingdom. 
Some try to convince us that they are the 
successors of the Apostles. If they will 
only imitate the Apostles, we might believe 
it. There was power given to the Apostles 
which no man, since their day, has ever 
had. They worked miracles wherever 
they went, to convince the people that 
they were of God. 

Look, again, at the power that followed 
their preaching. They preached in such a 
way that men were compelled to cry out, 
and ask, " What must I do to be saved? " 
They now began to realize what Jesus 
meant when he said, "If I go away I will 
send the comforter, which is the Holy 



A CATHOLIC. 47 

Spirit." It was through this Spirit back- 
ing up the truth that constrained the jailer 
to cry out, " Sirs, what must I do to be 
saved?" Now, we hold that such lessons 
as the above are found in the inspired 
pages, and God grant that every good 
Catholic minister may urge his people to 
search the inspired Word of God. Let us 
endeavor, both clergy and laymen, to imi- 
tate Jesus and his Apostles in giving alms. 
When Christ and his Apostles were 
called upon to bless either the body or the 
soul, we find that their hands and feet, as 
well as their hearts, were always ready 
without asking any questions with regard 
to their faith — the Jew, Pagan or Gentile, 
it made no difference which — as long as 
he wore the image of God, and was suffer- 
ing. This was enough to induce Christ 



48 A CATHOLIC. 

and his Apostles to help him. This get- 
ting up organizations in our day, just to 
help those who swallow our creed, is all 
wrong. It seems to us that if we were 
where Grod would have us, we would not 
stop to ask a suffering brother what branch 
of the church he belonged to ; we would 
be ready to put our hands in our pockets 
and give him something to help himself 
with, no matter whether he belonged to 
any denomination or not. 

We are authorized by the Lord to say 
to all good Catholics, that it shall be well 
with them. What a blessed thought ! Just 
pause a moment. What does that imply ? 
It implies this : That in whatever circum- 
stances we may be placed, it shall be well 
with us. Are we poor in this world's 
goods ? We need have no fears if we are 



A CATHOLIC. 49 

the Lord's. Christ says, " Seek ye first the 
Kingdom of God and his righteousness, 
and all these things (which means all the 
necessaries of life) shall be added unto 
you." 

I know it is easy to preach this doc- 
trine, but it is hard at times to get a man 
to believe it, especially when he has a wife 
and five or six helpless children to feed, 
educate and clothe, and is only getting a 
dollar and a quarter a day. But let me 
tell you of a good old woman whose name 
was Betsy. She lived on charity. Being 
out of bread one day she knelt on the 
hearth in front of the fire and besought 
the Lord that he would send her bread. 
Just at that time two young men, passing by 
her door, overheard the prayer, and thought 

they would have some fun. So they went 
4 



50 A CATHOLIC. 

to a store and bought two loaves of bread. 
They came back and got on top of the 
little cottage and dropped them down the 
chimney. The loaves rolled out where 
the old lady was kneeling. At this she 
stopped praying and commenced praising 
God for the bread. One of the young men 
now opened the door and said, " Betsy, 
what are you doing ? " Her answer was, 
that she had been praying for bread, and 
that the Lord had sent it. The young man 
then said, " you old fool, it was we that 
threw it down the chimney. Betsy then 
said that she did not care, for God sent it, 
but the devil brought it. So it is my 
friends, God is as good as his word. He is 
our father, and we are his children; He 
cannot lie ; He has promised that our bread 
shall be given, and our water shall be sure. 



A CATHOLIC. 51 

David says, " Once I was young, and now 
I am old, yet I never saw the righteous 
forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." 
Just let us believe God and we are all 
right. But it is not only well with the 
believer in this world's goods, but it is also 
well with him in the hour of sickness. It 
is also well with him when his feet begin 
to grow cold ; when his finger nails become 
blue and dark ; when his eyes become dim, 
and when the drops of sweat begin to 
gather on his forehead. In this trying 
hour it is well with him. The grace that 
God sometimes gives to his saints in this 
trying hour is wonderful. 

A Scotch minister when asked if he 
thought himself dying gave the calm and 
submissive answer, "Really friend I care 
not whether I am or not, for if I die I 



52 A CATHOLIC. 

shall be with God, and if I live, God will 
be with me." 

Another, President Edwards, after bid- 
ding good-bye to all his children, looked 
about him, and then said : " Now where is 
Jesus of Nazareth, my never-failing friend ?" 
then he fell asleep, and went to the Lord 
he loved. 

So it is, dear friends ; I might bring up 
a number of cases which have been brought 
under my own observation. I will men- 
tion one of them. It is that of a good 
Christian brother who departed this life a 
few months ago. Before he died he called 
five of his children (one at a time), to his 
bedside, shook hands with and kissed each 
one, and told them to be good to their 
mother ; then he raised his hands just as a 
bird would raise his wings, and clapped 



A CATHOLIC. 53 

tliem three times; he then fell asleep in 
Jesus. 

Now, ask the infidel, mooter, scoffer or 
the profane swearer, in a word, ask the 
man that is an enemy to God, if it is not 
well with such Catholics and he can but 
say "yes." 

Now, if it is well with the Catholic on 
earth it will certainly be well with him 
when Christ shall appear the second time 
to judge the world. When the trumpet 
shall sound, the dead shall awake 

" They shall burst the grave with sweet surprise, 
And in their Saviour's image rise." 

They shall be caught up with the Lord 
in the air. Oh ! what a joyful day that 
will be, when ministers and congregations, 
parents and children shall meet their Sa- 
viour, to separate no more forever. Then 



54 A CATHOLIC. 

we shall realize what the children often 
sing 

11 When we've been there ten thousand years, 

Bright, shining as the sun, 
We've no less days to sing God's praise 

Than when we first begun." 

Dear friends, after reading the preceding 
pages, let us each ask ourselves the ques- 
tion, are we Catholics in all that the word 
implies ? If we are, it will be well with 
us ; if we are not, would it not be acting 
wisely for us to immediately take the word 
of God, and as we turn over the sacred 
pages, ask the blessed influences of the 
Holy Spirit to lead us into the way of life ? 

It is my earnest prayer that the grace of 
God may rest upon and abide with all who 
love our Lord Jesus Christ and are en- 
deavoring to make heaven their final home. 
Amen. 









,v 



